Crimson Spikers Lose to Yale, Drop to Third Place in ECVL

The Harvard volleyball team, playing without the services of its captain Todd Stitzer, suffered a decisive defeat to Yale. 16-14, 5-15, 15-6 and 15-12 Saturday at the IAB.

The loss dropped the Crimson to third place in the East Coast Volleyball League, one game behind Yale and three behind leading Springfield College.

Yale jumped to a huge seven-point lead in the first game before Harvard got untracked. The Crimson closed the gap to 11-14 when Steve Kay made two successive spikes and a dink to tie the score at 14-14.

The teams then traded serves, but with Harvard then in possession, Kay committed volleyball's unpardonable sin by serving the ball out of bounds and giving the ball back to Yale. The Elis capitalized on the error and scored two quick points to come away with a 16-14 victory.

Off the Court

In the second game, Harvard came out roaring and blew the Elis off the court. With the score deadlocked at 3-3, the Crimson ran off eight straight points with an awesome display of spiking power to win the game going away, 15-5.

Although the momentum seemed to have shifted in Harvard's favour for the crucial third game, it was Yale's turn to display some offensive might. After both teams started slowly at 2-2, Yale scored a seven-point outburst to coast to an easy 15-6 victory.

In the fourth game, Yale raced to a quick 3-0 lead as a result of Harvard defensive lapses, but the Crimson then narrowed the margin to 3-4. Yale spurted to a five-point advantage, but the Crimson responded with four of their own, to trail again by one, 7-8.

Then Yale scored four more to take a seemingly insurmountable 12-7 lead, but Harvard fought back to 12-13, with serve. It was here that Kay once more served the ball beyond the endline, and Yale scored two quick ones to clinch the match, 15-12.